She was sharing the apartment with a Filipino girl named Meryl, a new manager in the company’s recently acquired Manila call center, and Meryl’s here for training. Meryl is off today as she’d worked all weekend on some company project. Ally had met her briefly the evening before and was trying to get me to plot with her.
“We are going to have to corrupt her, Carly. She’s gorgeous and quiet and maybe even religious and has never tasted an ounce of booze in her life. I’m pretty sure she’s also a virgin. The girl needs our help!”
I giggle as we conspire to take her clubbing by the weekend. I tell Ally that I love to dance, that it’s awesome for stress relief. She promises to scope out some local clubs.
When we get to the office, after just ten minutes on the road, Ally signs a company charge account slip that the cabbie presented to me, as if saving me from him. She had given me a knowing look prior to that because it was obvious he was watching me in the rearview mirror.
Her taking the mini clipboard only makes it more awkward for me, because he smiles at me the whole time she‘s signing. After he leaves, waving bye to us, she urges me to the side of the building, so she can have a before-work vaping session.
The building is a hexagon hi-rise with the company’s big C logo on the crown of the art-deco style concrete building. At the side is a glass shelter with an ashtray can inside along with a little bench. This is their head office and they have smaller offices in Manhattan and Miami, too.
Ally pulls her metallic baby pink vape (that matches her hair) out and the space around us fills with thick strawberry-scented fog.
Five minutes later, we’re in the lobby, getting met by Alice, who gets our photos taken to replace our visitor keycard badges and then takes us to the top floor.
She explains that there are other companies with suites in this building. Carmichael, which employees refer to as CC, has the first two floors, the third floor, and the top two floors, but the company is growing by leaps and bounds and so as the tenants’ leases expire, CC is slowing taking those suites back over.
The lobby has a Starbucks coffee cart. The neighborhood is great, with shops and restaurants all around as well as parks, making me feel optimistic about lots of places to hang out on lunch breaks.
I’m stoked for this new job. It’s a great building and lots of people looking busy and cheerful for a Monday morning so that speaks good things about the morale of the place. I see younger creative types as well as those in business attire looking like accounting or IT types.
Alice is a sweet, youthful, sultry fifty-something redheaded lady with a great Boho style and a British accent. She shows us to our cubicles, which are side-by-side and have half-walls, so we’ve got semi-private work areas, but the cubicle farm design means you can pop up like a prairie dog to talk to your neighbors. This is how Alice describes it, telling us the corporate culture at CC is an open, fun, and collaborative environment.
If we don’t want to work at our cubes, the main floor lobby has an atrium that’s open and filled with couches and beanbag chairs, and employees are welcome to work down there. Each cubicle has a name tag plate and a blank metal plate that has colored magnets system with “meeting”, “lunch”, “offsite meeting”, “atrium”, or “gone fishing” so you can put a magnet on the name plate to show we’re you are, if you’re not at your desk.
Alice says, “If there’s no magnet on your name plate, we expect to find you within shouting distance.”
Alice then tells us that we are in the marketing area and there are a handful of cubes near two offices, which she says belong to the marketing director, George, who is on leave of absence for the next nine to twelve weeks after having surgery, which I knew about, and which is partly why I was rushed here with such a fast turnaround to help with their online marketing. The other office, the one right behind my cubicle, (an end cubicle, and I’ve got one tall wall and one short one, the one between my and Ally’s cubes) belongs to the marketing VP, Aiden Carmichael.
“When he’s here,” Alice says. “He usually works out of the New York City office, but he’s here while George is off.” She says this to Ally.
I startle and look. I haven’t got a full view of the office from where I stand.
No.
“Aiden?” I double-check what Alice said.
“Aiden Carmichael, Mr. C’s son.” She gives me a peculiar look, which makes sense, since she has to know he’s my roommate, so she probably figures we’ve had a conversation or two. She’d be right, but those convos were less than civil.
I crane my neck and look and yep... nightmare at 1 o’clock in a three-piece suit. I see him through his glass walled office talking on his phone, pacing and looking angry. He’s in a chocolate brown suit today, vest, cream colored shirt, chocolate brown tie, still sporting that scruff on his face, and looking more delicious than ever. The asshole.
I had wondered, this morning, if he’d left early for work or if he was still in bed. Or, if maybe he hadn’t come in the night before.
How could his ass look so good in those suit trousers?
I catch Ally eyeing him.
“You’ve met Aiden, I assume,” Alice says.
“I, uh… yes. I have.” I’m red in the face and I feel my knees wobble as Aiden’s eyes meet mine. After a beat, he smirks at me. The cocky bastard.
“You work at Carmichael?”
“I guess you could say that.”
What an absolute jerk, purposely being vague. My God, he’s not just the son of the CEO; Alice said VP of Marketing. That means… yep, he’s my boss’s boss and since my boss is on medical leave, I report directly to the jerk.
Ally looks at me with confusion.
I spin around so my back is to Aiden.
“He’s my roommate. I was going to ask about being moved.”
Alice chuckles, leans in close, and asks in a low voice, “Too much man meat to be in close proximity to? We don’t have a non-fraternization policy, if that’s your worry.”
“That’s not it,” I mutter.
“You have a boyfriend?” Alice asks.
I shake my head. “Freshly single. Boyfriend dumped me less than a week ago.”
“So, you’re not gay?” Ally tries.
“Not that there’s anything wrong with that,” Alice adds, giving Ally a disapproving look.
“No. Not gay. He…um…” I stop. “Nevermind, it’s fine. I’ll make do.”
“Make do? How could you be not gay and not absolutely drooling over that? I’ll switch if I can look at that on my off hours,” Ally offers.
Alice snickers. “No one’s switching, ladies. Mr. C requested it this way so that’s how it is. If you want a change, you’ll have to ask him. I wouldn’t recommend it. When he makes a specific request, he’s generally got a reason and won’t be swayed.”
What could be his reason?
She continues. “Down there’s the coffee station.” I see a coffee cup sign suspended from the ceiling.
“You can get yourselves juiced up and then boardroom with Mr. C, Aiden, and the rest of the marketing team in ten minutes. It’s right next to the coffee station. We keep a fridge stocked with juice for all and there’s always a bowl of fruit refreshed each morning, little boxes of cereal. Granola. Get your vitamins, girls. There’s coffee and tea and water there, as well. Fridays, one of the managers always takes turns bringing something yummy. Bagels. Donuts. Something like that. Cool?”
I give Alice a nod, Ally makes some sort of verbal agreement, but I’m a bit dazed. I shake it off as Alice continues.
“Your computers have been assigned and there are onboarding binders on your desks. Go through them for passwords, employee handbooks, some stuff you need to sign, and so forth. You’ve got personalized mugs and other company swag in a bag hanging from your coat hooks, too. My cubicle is over there in case you need anything.” She gestures to her right.
She ensures we’re good and disappears, leaving me and Ally in my cubicle.
Ally gives me a pointed look. “What? You’re like you’ve seen a ghost. Do you have a problem with your roommate and VP?”
I don’t know Ally well enough to know how much I can trust her with private information yet. I’ve known her less than an hour, so I am not about to tell her I walked into a domestic argument with something about a sex video of some girl he’d hooked up with, about seeing him in his underwear, nor discuss cleaning up the filthy apartment, and him stealing my food and acting like an ogre. Not to mention that he was being a total asshole and not even forthright about who he is. So, I fib.
“No, it’s fine. I’ve barely seen him. I just wanted a female roomie. That’s all.”
She looks at me appraisingly, and I know she doesn’t believe a word out of my mouth. She confirms that with what comes out of her mouth.
“I call bullshit. We just met, but we’re office besties, you and me.” She gestures between us. “So, that includes giving me the goods on the office hottie. I’ll get it outta you later. For now? Coffee and then marketing meeting. But know this. I’ve got your back, sister. You can trust me.”
I give her a wobbly smile.
Yeah, I thought I could trust Stephanie, too. Stephanie had been my bestie since training bras. I guess I’ve got trust issues what with my sister stealing from me, my bestie talking smack about me, and my boyfriend dumping me out of the blue and going out on a fucking date the very same day.
I push away the foul taste that’s suddenly in my mouth.
She rounds the half-wall separating our cubicles. I bend and shove my bags into a drawer of my new L-shaped desk and smooth out my tan pencil skirt, then reach into the bag and pull out a purple mug with the company logo and my name written on it.
I turn around and see that Aiden’s still on the phone and he’s got eyes on me.
He was checking out my ass, the ass! He has a perfect view of the opening into my cube from his office.
I narrow my eyes on him and then remember he’s my boss.
Well, technically my boss’s boss. Hopefully he’s not going to be here and in the same apartment as me for that whole three months.
Shit, shit, shit.
Wait. He’s the one staring at my ass. My boss’s boss is staring at my ass. And that’s gotta be a human resources violation. I tried to be nice, he didn’t. I cleaned his mess and he thanked me by eating my food and being rude to me. I’m the one with the clear conscience here. If I cow to him, I’m reinforcing my status as Carly the Doormat.
No. Hell, no.
I clear my expression and ignore him, then I step out of my cube, careful to not even look at him, though I feel like he’s looking at me, and get to Ally, who links arms with me again and we head to the coffee room.
I’m not happy that my roommate situation isn’t going to be resolved. But, I can deal for now while I assess things.
Maybe he’s only here for a week.
Maybe I’ll only have to deal with him by email or something.
Maybe I can just avoid him and spend most of my non-work time on the 14th floor at Ally and Meryl’s apartment.
We’ll see.